Brillantes notes very few PCOS glitches, voting still OK

Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – There are only a few glitches with the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines and there are no major problems with the ongoing elections, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said.

“The general report is that there are a few glitches with the PCOS machines, in general the elections are still OK so far,” Brillantes told reporters in a briefing.

He said that their prediction so far is that 200 out of 78,000 machines may malfunction, unlike in the 2010 election where 400 out of 76,000 machines malfunctioned.

Brillantes also said there were incorrect reports of PCOS malfunctions when the ballots were rejected the first time it was inserted. Voters only had to reorient their ballot and try again for the second time, he said.

He cited the case of Vice President Jejomar Binay whose first attempt at inserting his ballot was rejected. But in his second attempt, the ballot was accepted.

Brillantes confirmed there was a misdelivery of ballots in a precinct in Baguio and another in Compostela Valley.

He said the voting in those precincts would not be able to continue and that a failure of elections would likely be declared in those particular precincts.

Special elections will only be held in those precincts if their votes can be seen to have a significant effect on the results.

Brillantes came from their National Support Center where official reports were coming in from all over the country.